Camp Namanu

My favorite place to get away to when I was in high school and college was Camp Namanu. I loved the outdoors, freedom, friends and hiking through the streams and going on night hikes. I attended countless reunions throughout my life with the friends I made there over the years.

Camp Namanu (Nuh-MAH-Noo) is a program of Camp Fire Columbia, a youth development organization located in Portland, Oregon with a mission to build caring, confident youth and future leaders. It was established in 1924 as an all girls camp and holds a special place in the hearts of thousands of campers from all over the world. The camp expands 552 acres and sits on the banks of the Wild and Scenic Sandy River, just one hour east of Portland beneath Mount Hood. Camp Namanu offers gratitude for the 552 acres of land, for those who have stewarded it for generations, and for the opportunity to study, learn, work, and be in community in this place. We are grateful to the Molalla, Kalapuya, Chinook and Clackamas tribes.

Camp Namanu has a rich history of helping campers to explore the outdoors, and in turn learning more about themselves in the process. It is a place where every kid belongs, and where they can be themselves. A night at Camp Namanu means sleeping out beneath stars, in a tree house perched over the Sandy river, or nestled by the fireplace in one of the historic Lodges.